


Out of Time

by MizzNikkii



Category: The Wanted (Band)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-24
Updated: 2015-04-25
Packaged: 2018-01-20 14:53:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1514528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MizzNikkii/pseuds/MizzNikkii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"All of this pain spread over your face. All I wanna do is help you out of this place so hurry up now before you run out of time!" - Only You by The Wanted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: There's a ton of Nathan angst in there as well as some sensitive issues.

It was the night of Tom and Kelsey’s engagement party.

Nathan had been feeling really uneasy for pretty much the whole night. Every time he looked over, this strange man was staring at him. It was really beginning to freak Nathan out. He didn't recognize the man but did the man know who he was?

That was probably a stupid question. He was in a very popular band, the man probably knew exactly who he was.

Rather then saying something to his band mates, he shrugged it off. He did not need teasing him, which, to be fair, would happen if he mentioned it to them.

Slowly, Nathan turned his head to look at his four older brothers, who seemed to be too wrapped up in their conversation to notice what was going on around.

After four years in the business, The Wanted decided to take a needed two year hiatus.

Since the hiatus, a lot had happened.

Tom Parker, Nathan’s oldest former band mate, owned his own clothing line. After six years, Tom finally popped the big question to his long term girlfriend, Kelsey Hardwick, on Valentines day at a local restaurant.

Max George became an actor and starred in a bunch of movies. He and his girlfriend, Danish model Nina Agdal, had recently bought a house together in London.

Siva Kaneswaran decided to take up modeling. It wasn’t too long before he and his fiancee, Nareesha McCaffery tied the knot and welcomed their first child into the world, a daughter they named Jasmine.

Jay McGuiness became a talent manager. He managed some of the biggest names in the world and some up and coming stars as well. He was not seeing anyone and didn’t want to settle down anytime soon.

Nathan did some solo projects during the bands hiatus. He recorded some tracks for a film that would be coming out fairly soon and was featured on several tracks from some of the biggest artists, such as Eminem and Fifth Harmony. He was also single and not really looking to get into a relationship.

A year had passed and they had one more to go before the Wanted would get back together.

By the time to the end of the party came along, Nathan was feeling antsy. The man, who had been eyeing him for the past couple hours, was still looking at him and it was really freaking him out. Part of him wanted to go up to the man and ask him he had been staring at him for practically the whole party but he decided against it.

He would be leaving to go back home fairly quickly.

The sound of someone calling his name caught Nathan’s attention and he looked at his older brothers.

Okay, they weren’t actually his brothers but he seemed to think of them as if they were.

“What?”

“You okay?” Jay asked him.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, you kind of spaced out on us.”

“I’m fine.” Nathan stood up. “I think I’m gonna head home now.”

“Already?”

“Yeah, sorry. Early day at the studio tomorrow. I’m recording a duet with Taylor Swift now. Tell Tom that I said I sorry I couldn’t stay.”

“Oh okay, goodnight Nath.”

Nathan said his goodbyes to Max, Siva, and Jay before heading out to the parking lot.

The London air was surprisingly cold, Nathan found himself shivering as he made his way to his car.

Luckily for him, he did happen to have a jacket in the backseat of his car on the passenger side.

Just as soon as he closed the door to his car, he nearly jumped in surprise when he saw someone standing on the other side of the door, waiting for it. It was the same man who had been staring at him for pretty much the whole party.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, mate.” The man started. “Say, you’re Nathan Sykes, right?”

Nathan nodded, “Yep.”

“Thought so. I haven’t seen you since you were like, this tall.” The man said, putting a hand to his hip. “I’m John Smith, I’m an old friend of your mothers.”

So that was why the man had been looking at him the whole night? Even if he was an old friend of Nathan’s mother, the boy still had a very uneasy feeling around him.

“How is your mom doing, anyways?”

“She’s good.”

“She must be so proud of you.”

“Well, I hope she is.”

“Tell her I said hi when you see her.”

“Okay, I need to go now.” Nathan said, making his way around to the drivers side door before opening it and getting in.

Just as he was about to turn the ignition on, he saw the man sitting in the passenger seat of his car.

Now Nathan was really freaked out. His nerves were at an all time high.

The man looked over at him and smirked a bit. It was the kind of smile that chilled Nathan to the core. He felt goosebumps all over his body. Before he knew what was happening, a cloth was roughly placed over his nose and mouth.

His arms flailed, trying to get the cloth off his face, until the man grabbed a hold of both of wrists and held them together tight in his own large hand.

The smell coming from the cloth was sickeningly sweet.  _Oh shit,_ Nathan cursed. _It’s chloroform._

He could feel himself getting woozy and the last he was able to make out the sick and sadistic grin on the man’s face before everything went black.

~~–~~

The first thing Nathan became aware of when he came to the splitting headache he was suffering from as soon as he woke up and he immediately grimaced.

It took a few minutes for the headache to subside but as soon as he did, he realized that he was not alone. Someone was running their fingers through his hair. He opened his eyes to look at who it was and it took him a few seconds for him to realize that it was the man who had been staring at him during Tom and Kelsey’s engagement party.

His eyes widened and he panicked. “What are you doing?” He asked, jolting up so he was sitting on the bed, looking around at the unfamiliar room he found himself in. It was a rather small room, much smaller then his bedroom at home. There were no windows and besides the door, there was a bed, which Nathan was laying on when he woke up, and a wooden chair. Attached to the room was a bathroom, consisting of a toilet and a sink. “Where am I?”

“You were sleeping,” John replied, smirking. “You just woke up.”

“Stay away from me!” Nathan backed up until his back was up against the wall. “Max! Jay! Siva! Tom!” He called out, looking from wall to wall hoping to see anyone he knew. But no one was there. “Boys!”

“They’re not here, Nathan.”

The boy whimpered before he jumped up to try and open the door, only to find it was locked. “Help me!” He shouted, banging on the door. “Somebody! Anybody! Help me!”

“No one can hear you.” The man replied, standing up.

Nathan turned around to look at John, who was staring at him with a sick grin on his face and that was what terrified Nathan to no end. He was trapped, he knew that and so did the man. He looked down before he ran over to the other corner of the room, attempting to get away from the man and ended up nearly tripping on the bed. “Who are you?” He asked, his pressed up against the wall. “What do you want?”

John smirked, “nothing.”

It took a few seconds before he realized what the man had told him and he looked at the ground before looking back at the man. He could make out the sick and sadistic grin on the man’s face and he swore his heart skipped a beat.

“You’re taking a big risk. I’m in a band, you know that, don’t you?” He asked, trying to keep himself from frowning and he could feel his body shaking a bit with fear.

“Yeah,” the man replied, shrugging his shoulders. “So?”

“Someone is bound to notice when I don’t show up at the studio and they’re going to be searching for me.” Nathan sniffled, trying to fit his tears off. “They’ll find me.”

“That may be true but no one is looking for me.” The man’s words confused the boy and he looked up at him. John continued. “The hiatus is going to end soon, how long do you think it will be before the boys reunite without you?”

Nathan’s jaw dropped and he shook his head. “They would never do that to me.”

“They did while you were out recovering from the surgery, didn’t they?”

“That was different.”

“Is it really?” John replied.

Nathan knew exactly what he was trying to do and he wasn’t going to let it work. “You’ll never break me.” He spat at the man, the glare never leaving his face. “Do you hear me?! You can try but you will  _never_  break me!”

The man advanced closer to him and before Nathan knew it, his hand was in the boy’s hair and he looked up at the man in fear. “That look in your eyes, it reminds me of little Nathan. You know that the five year old boy who fell off his bike and scraped his knee. Any other kid would have went crying to mommy but not you. It’s actually quite interesting, to say the least.”

Nathan could feel his breath catch in his throat as he glared up at John. “You don’t know me.”

“Oh I know you alright,” John nodded a few times, his eyes never leaving Nathan’s. “I’m just waiting for you to catch up.”

With that, the man turned around made his way over to the door and unlocked to leave but not before taking a glance at Nathan. He smirked at the helpless look on the boy’s face and slowly closed the door, locking it behind him.

Nathan took a seat on the bed and backing up so he was sitting against the wall. One single, lone prayer crossed through his head as he covered himself the blanket.

_Someone, please find me._

Unfortunately, his prayers were never answered. No one ever came and Nathan slowly began to find himself losing hope of ever being found.

He was completely unsure of how long he had been stuck in this room for. It could be days. Months. Years. He couldn’t see anything, there was no light coming in and out of the room so he had no way of telling time.

He tried to do whatever he could to pass the time, such as thinking of song lyrics. Most of the time, he slept. He just laid on the bed and stared up at the ceiling until he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer. Sometimes, he would sit on the ground and run his fingers over the ground as if he playing the piano. But not once did he sing.

Some days, John would come in. Majority of the time he would just sit on the chair, in front of Nathan. He did not say anything, just stared at Nathan as if he was the most helpless thing in the world. A few times, he walked over and started to run his fingers through Nathan’s hair while mummering something that was hardly understandable.

He missed everyone back at home. He missed his mother. His younger sister, Jess. Phil. The boys. Kelsey and Nareesha.

He just could not take another minute in this room. He felt like the walls were starting to close in on him and he was losing control. He felt helpless.

Never had he felt so vulnerable in all his life.

That’s when things started to get worse for him.

Nathan just laid on the bed on his side, looking at nothing. He heard someone unlock the door but he did not move an inch.

It wasn’t long before the door opened and John came in pushing a stand with a TV on it. He stopped in front of the bed and just stared at Nathan, who looked up at him but did not say a word to him at all. John hoovered over Nathan and he started to run his fingers through the boys hair. “Why so down, baby Nath?” Nathan ignored him. “I’ve got something to show you.”

Nathan did not budge. Did not speak either.

John stood up and walked over to the TV stand that he left in the room and put a tape in the VCR slot.

“Thank you all for coming out tonight!”

Nathan recognized that voice coming from the TV and his eyes widened in shock. It was Max’s voice. But how?!

He slowly forced himself to sit on the bed and when he saw what was on the TV screen, his jaw followed suit. It was the boys, Tom, Max, Siva, and Jay. Performing. Without him.

“We’re back and we’re here to stay!” That was Jay.

“This song is Glad You Came.” Finally, Tom.

He watched as the band in the background started to play the opening of Glad You Came and he shook his head in horror. There was no way this was possible. It had to be some sort of trick.

Nathan looked up at the man. “Why are you showing me this?” His voice broke as he spoke.

“Well,” John started. “I thought you would like to know what the boys are up to now.”

With one last quick glance to the man, he turned his back to the TV and watched the whole performance. He watched as the four laughed and had a blast at the gig. Look at how much fun they’re having without you. A voice in his head told him.

Once the video ended, the man paused the tape and looked back at the helpless boy before him. Nathan sat on the bed, frozen. Unable to move, due to what he had just saw.

“That can’t be,” the boy finally spoke up. “They would not just continue on without me. You’re lying.”

John laughed, “you know darn well that I’m not lying.”

Nathan did not know what to believe. He wanted nothing more then to belief that this was some joke that man came up to make him feel more defenseless and helpless then he already does.

But looking at the screen, it did not seem like it was a trick.

It looked real.

But how? How can they do that to him? How can they just go ahead and continue on as a band without him. They all made a promise to each other one night. They all swore they would never leave another one of them behind.

Did they forget about that promise?

A million different thoughts passed through his mind all at once and because of that, he was unaware of what was happening around him. He did not notice when John got up and left the room, leaving him all alone.

Nathan felt as if he had been betrayed.

He could not help it either.

They were his best friends. His older brothers. At least that’s how he always thought of them. Do they care about him? Did they ever? Do they miss him? Were they looking for him?

Soon, Nathan found himself sitting with his back against the wall and his knees drawn up to his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around his knees and his head resting on top of them.

Nathan was not sure about how much time had passed before John came back. Probably like a day or so.

The man said nothing when he closed the door behind him. He instead approached Nathan on the bed and handed him some papers. The boy looked at him, confused before taking a look. It was a newspaper article and his jaw dropped when he read the headline.

“ **The Wanted to continue as a four-man band!”**

He shook his head and moved on to the next paper in his hands. It full of various printed tweets from fans and he could have sworn his heart skipped a beat with some of the tweets he saw.

_@thewanted I’m so glad you decided to carry on without Nathan. He’s nothing but a burden and all he did was hold you back._

_@thewanted I’ve missed you guys so much and I’m so happy you decided to get back together without Nathan. He’s such a waste of space, he has no talent at all._

_@thewanted are finally back together and without Nathan. He’s nothing but an attention whore._

There were so many tweets that said much worse things then that.

Nathan could feel his heart breaking at the fans comments. Is that all they ever thought of him as? A waste of space? An attention whore? A burden?

“Don’t you see it now, Nathan?” John said, watching as Nathan went to the last paper in his hand. “The band is back together. They realized they don’t need you anymore. They never did to begin with anyway.”

Nathan slammed the papers down the bed in frustration, causing John to smirk. “They gave up on you.”

The boy kept his gaze in front of him. The man then continued, “you should be used to that by now, right? It’s been happening your whole life, hasn’t it?”

Nathan picked his head up to glare at John.

It was not hard to see the man’s words were getting to Nathan and that was what John was aiming to do. He could not stop the smirk from appearing on his face. “First your father. He left you and your mother when she eight months pregnant with your little sister, Jessica.”

Nathan shook his head in frustration and he was breathing unevenly. “Shut up!”

“Then Jayne left you too. Your first manager, the one who put all five of you together.”

Nathan covered his ears with his hands, not wanting to listen to this abuse any longer. “Please stop!”

“And all your friends as well at home.”

“Please!”

“And now the hiatus, which may have been mutual agreement, but the boys blamed you, didn’t they? The only reason they kept you around was because of your voice. Quite a powerhouse, wasn’t it?”

Nathan moved his hands to his head, gripping his hair tight as he began to tremble. Tears were streaming down his face.

“But your voice lost all its good qualities following the surgery and the boys realized there was no point on continuing as The Wanted, since you don’t sound as good as you used to before the surgery.”

That was when Nathan broke down. He let everything he was feeling out and in doing so, he could not stop himself from punching the wall in frustration hard. The next thing he knew, pain exploded in his hand and he cried out, cradling his injured his hand.

But the man was not finished just yet. He knelt down in front of Nathan and placed his filthy hand on the boys shoulder.

“Don’t you see that you will not be leaving this room, Nath? Not now, not ever. No one has come for you yet and no one will be coming either. No one is looking for you.”

John then stood up, cupping Nathan’s cheeks before gently placing a kiss on the top of the boy’s head and then finally exiting the room.

He knew Nathan gave up and the boy was no longer looking for a way out anymore. He succeeded in breaking the youngest member of The Wanted and that was his plan all along.

When he came by the next day, it was too get to work. He quickly took the door off its hinges and proceeded to seal the doorway off with cement blocks, not before taking one last glance at the boy on the boy on the bed. He was laying on his side and his back was facing the man so John could not see his face but he was broken.

As he proceeded to put the last cement block, he head Nathan humming a familiar tune and stopped in his tracks, listening. It was I’ll Be Your Strength.

He shook his head and ignored it, pushing the last cement block in. He sealed Nathan in the room, alive.

But it was only a matter of time before the boy’s time ran out.

~~~~–~~   
~~

Life’s a bitch.

That’s one unfortunate thing that Nathan had to learn the hard way. And sadly, it could not have been more true for him.

All hope was gone for him now.

Nathan found himself slowly drifting in and out of consciousness. He looked absolutely horrible. His eyes were red and puffy and he looked exhausted. He seemed very emaciated and he was in a lot of pain. He had not had anything to eat and the only thing that entered his mouth was water. Nasty flavor at that.

He found himself laying on his back on his bed still in the room he had been trapped in during his imprisonment. He had his injured hand draped casually over his stomach, not wanting to move it at all.

It’s not like he could though.

You know what they say, don’t you? Your life flashes before you eyes just as your about to die. Nathan knew this was the end for him.

Nobody was coming for him. They just did not care, especially the boys.

It was heartbreaking to say the least. But he did not cry, he had no more tears left in his body. Not after he broke down.

There were so many things he wanted in his life.

He wanted to experience happiness like Tom and Siva did. Sure, he had girlfriends before he never got to experience true happiness.

He wanted to get married. That pretty much speaks for himself.

He wanted a family of his very own. Him, his wife, and their beautiful children. He wanted that more then anything.

But he would not be able to experience all the finer things life had to offer him.

~~———————~~

_Growing up, Nathan wanted a younger sibling._

_For the first three years of his life, it was him, his mom, and his dad. He wanted a little brother, someone to be his partner in crime with._

_His father didn’t stay for too long. He left when his mother was eight months pregnant, leaving his wife devastated and three year-old Nathan confused. “Mommy, when’s daddy coming back?”_

_He never got an answer from her. All she did was cry and Nathan couldn’t understand why. He was coming back, wasn’t he?_

_Shortly after, his mom had the baby._

_He didn’t get a brother, like was hoping. He got a sister instead._

_Not that he was complaining, baby Jess was just the cutest thing. Her little button nose and those blue eyes that just stared into your soul._

~~_He just adored Jess._ ~~

~~–~~

He was stupid to think the man was trying to take his father’s place.

That was not what he was trying to do. He had lost his wife to cancer and he just wanted to a companion. Someone to make him happy.

Nathan’s mother made him happy.

And he made her happy.

Phil just adored Nathan and Jess, even though they were not his children. Regardless of Nathan not accepting him right away, he always thought of Nathan as if he was his son. Nothing would ever change that.

Nathan decided to give Phil a chance. He was not a bad guy at all. Nathan found himself growing attached to the man and even considered him to be a father figure.

How he missed that man so much.

~~~~–~~   
~~

_His dad never came back._

_Eventually, his mom moved on and began to date again._

_When Nathan was eight and Jess was five, Phil came into the picture._

_He did not like Phil at all. He thought Phil was trying to take his father’s place, which was not going to happen._

~~_No one could ever take his father’s place._ ~~

~~~~–~~   
~~

It probably was ridiculous but he missed the boys too.

Sure, he was hurt that they decided to carry with the band in his absence but regardless of what they’ve done, they were still like his older brothers. His best friends.

He at least wish the boys knew how much their friendship actually meant to him before all of this had happened but it still does not change a thing.

Part of him wants to believe they were looking for him, they always had been.

That they needed him as much as he needed them.

But John’s voice echoed in his head. “They don’t care about you. They haven’t come for you yet and they’re not going to.”

And that hurt the most.

~~~~–~~ ~~

_“Hey, mate.” Nathan heard and peeled his eyes away from his computer to look up and at the two he had seen through the audition process._

_“Hey,” he answered back._

_“How old are you?”_

_“Fourteen.”_

_“You have some set pipes on you.”_

_That made Nathan smile. “Thank you.”_

_“I’m Tom, by the way.”_

_“And I’m Max.”_

_“Nathan.”_

~~~~–~~   
~~

Being a part of the Wanted was probably one of the most memorable experiences of his life. Singing was his whole life.

All he ever dreamed about when he was younger was being on stage. That was all he ever wanted to do. And nothing else came could ever top the feeling he got when he was stage. To look at the amount of screaming fan-girls in the crowd and seeing them singing your own song back to you.

There was just no better feeling in the world.

He made his dreams come true. And he would not change that for anything in the world.

They achieved so much as a band. From their first gig to their first sold out headlining tour as a band, he was proud of all the success they had achieved during their careers.

He was proud of himself for being able to live his dream.

~~~~–~~ ~~

_The audition process lasted for about two years before he finally got the call he had been waiting for._

_He got into the band. Never had he felt such joy in his life._

_He was called into a meeting with Jayne Collins, where he saw Tom and Max again and also met Jay and Siva for the first time. He had seem the two of them around during the audition process but never talked to them._

_But they were his fellow band-mates._

_That’s when Jayne came in and introduced them to each other and told them that they were the final five._

_From that day on, they became The Wanted._

~~~~–~~   
~~

Nathan knew he was at his limit, death was literally staring at him right in the face. He wanted to hold onto hope that someone would come and find him at the very last minute but he knew that was impossible.

No one knew where he was. No one knew he was dying. And no one cared enough to even bother to look for him.

This is not the way he thought he would die. He thought it would happen way into the future when he was an old man.

He certainly did not think it would happen now; all alone at the age of twenty two and at the mercy of a sick, deranged man.

Truth be told, this is not the way he wanted to go either.

Every time he closed his eyes, he could see John. It’s not like he would ever be able to forget the face of a man who kept him as a prisoner anyway.

Each time, John would just stand by the door with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. Like he enjoyed all of Nathan’s pain and suffering. Like he got a kick out of watching the boy just give up and accept the fact that he was going to die.

But Nathan could not feel any emotion, his head just hurt way too much.

He could not even register pain anymore.

He just drifted off, unable to clearly think anymore. And in doing so, he did not notice the walls of the room come crumbling down and the harsh sunlight that peeped its way through into the room. He could not see a thing.

Just a big hole of nothing.

Then tingles rushed through his neck. What was that? Something was touching his body and his nervous system was trying to pick up on it. He could not help the moan that escaped his mouth.

Wait, was he alive? Did he want to be dragged out of this unconsciousness when all it promised was more pain and suffering?

Then he could hear two voices in the room with him. Neither belonged to anyone he knew.

“This is Valens! We found the boy! He’s alive but his pulse is very weak! We need a bus now!” A masculine voice said from somewhere in front of him.

Then he could feel something touching his hair, smoothing it into place. It was someone’s hand. The touch seemed reassuring and.. comforting. That’s when the pain came back and he groaned.

“Nathan, can you hear me?” A feminine voice said. He weakly opened his eyes to get a look at his surroundings. He could see the faint outline of a woman leaning down in front of the bed. She was the one running her fingers through his hair.

There was a man right behind her, looking down at him.

He did not get to see their faces, his mind just was too exhausted to even try.

“My name is Detective Lily Rush and this is Detective Scotty Valens. We’re with the London police.” The woman said. His eyes closed, he could not keep them open any longer.

Then it dawned him. The police were here! He was saved! If he was able to, he would have started bawling right then and there.

But he could hardly move, he just did not have the energy to even lift a finger.

“Hang in there, kid! Help is on the way!” The male detective told him.

That’s when he could feel himself drifting again. So did the detectives that found him. “No, Nathan, stay with me!” The female detective said, trying to gently shake him awake. But he could barely focus on her voice, he was too busy trying to fight off the darkness that was trying to take over him and he was losing that battle. “Scotty, we’re losing him!”

“Come on, kid! Fight this!” The male detectives said. He was trying to and it was taking a lot out of him.

The darkness came anyway but this time, Nathan did not know if he was going to wake up at all.

  


	2. Chapter 2

A year!

That’s long it had been since Nathan was abducted. One long, miserable year since his best friend went missing. Was taken from right underneath his nose.

The whole time that Nathan was missing, Max felt empty. Incomplete. Like a part of him was missing and he did not know if he would ever feel whole again.

It was a nightmare.

Max felt as though this was somehow his fault. He should have known what was happening. He should walked Nathan out to his car and watched as the boy drove away that night.

The night that Nathan was abducted.

He remembered that day like it was yesterday.

He remembered being being woken up at four in the morning when he received a phone call from Nathan’s worried mother. She told him that Nathan had not come home the night before and wanted to see if maybe he had stayed at Max’s with the rest of the boys that night, which he did not.

The cops did basically nothing to search for Nathan. As for as they were concerned, he was just a runaway. But Max knew that was not the case, he knew Nathan well enough to know that he would never just leave without telling anyone what he was doing.

There was also the disturbing realization that one man kept staring at Nathan the whole time during Tom and Kelsey’s engagement party and it was bugging Nathan. He was agitated the whole time, if someone even mentioned his name, he nearly jumped three feet in the air.

This man had something to do with Nathan’s abduction, Max was sure of that.

True to Max’s predictions, that same man was arrested six months after Nathan’s abduction. His blood matched blood found in the parking lot of the restaurant Tom and Kelsey had their engagement party. He would tell anyone his name, everyone just called him John Smith though.

He was the one who kidnapped Nathan.

He was a serial killer. He targeted young boys between the ages of fifteen and twenty five, who were at the prime of their lives prior to their abduction.

Nathan indeed was prior to his abduction.

He would abduct his victims, keeping them locked up until they gave up hope and then left them to die.

It truly was a horrible way to go.

Nathan was alive though. Max could feel it in his body, his youngest brother was out there somewhere and he knew that if they did not find him soon, he will not be for too much longer.

The man would not talk. He would not give them answers. Would not give up Nathan’s location.

Max had decided that he had to do something to help Nathan so he paid the man a visit in prison to try and get him to talk but he would not budge. Would not tell anyone where Nathan was and that was killing him. He even taunted Max by telling him some of the most awful things and had it not been for the glass screen that separated him and John, Max was certain that he would have slammed the man’s head against the wall as hard as he possibly could, probably killing him in the process.

He was seething with rage when he left the penitentiary. He felt helpless and inadequate. He failed Nathan by not being able to get the boys location.

"Max," the sound of someone calling his name snapped out of his thoughts and he looked over to meet his girlfriend’s concerned gaze. "Aren’t you hungry?"

He looked down at his plate, which he had not touched at all, and shook his head.

Nina face dropped and she closed her eyes, disappointed. “Come on, Max. You have to eat something. Nathan would not want to see you starving yourself, would he?”

He had to admit, she was right. Nathan always hated seeing his loved ones suffer because of him. That was just the kind of person he was.

But he did not have an appetite. How was he supposed to eat something knowing that one of his best friends was out there somewhere, dying a slow painful death and he was stuck at home sitting on his ass not being to help him because he had no idea where the boy was?

“How am I supposed to eat something while one of my best friends is out there somewhere, alone and being forced to starve himself?” Max questioned.

“Look, I know you’re hurting,” Nina started. “But this is not what he would want.”

“Can you please stop talking like he’s dead?! He’s not! He’s still out there somewhere but he won’t be too much longer if we don’t find him!”

“If he’s really still alive, the cops will find him.”

“Not if this man doesn’t give up his location! He will die if they don’t get to him soon!”

Nina sighed, she could tell she was getting nowhere with Max and it was upsetting her. “I just hate seeing you in so much pain, Max.”

Max looked at Nina when he heard her words and now he felt like an ass. He upset his girlfriend. That was not what he meant to do. He did not mean to take all his anger and frustration out on her, she had nothing to do with what happened to Nathan.

He took a seat next to her on the couch and pulled her closer to him. “I’m sorry, Nina. I really am.”

“No need to be sorry. I can’t imagine how you’re feeling but I just want you know that I’m here for you and I always will be.”

That made Max smile and he leaned in slowly to kiss her on the lips. “I just think I really need to be with Tom, Siva, and Jay right now.”

Nina nodded. She completely understood why he felt like that. “I’ll call them and invite them over.”

With that, she stood up and left the room. Max leaned back against the couch.

~~_**——** _ ~~

Tom, Siva, and Jay were pretty much in the same boat that he is. They too seem to have that feeling that Nathan was alive out there somewhere.

What was the worst part of this all was that they literally had no idea where Nathan was and that was killing the four of them. Nathan needed them and they couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

One thing was for darn sure, they all hated John Smith with a passion and wanted him dead.

He destroyed them.

They could only imagine what he did to Nathan during the boy’s imprisonment.

“I miss the little bugger so much.” Jay said, taking a sip of the beer that Max gave all of them.

Tom nodded. He and Kelsey already had set a date prior to Nathan’s disappearance. They planned on July of 2015 but sadly, they had to cancel the wedding. Tom just did not want to get married without all four of his best friends there with him, which Kelsey understood. “I do too. It just isn’t the same without him and his sarcasm.”

“I just wish I had went out with him. Maybe then this wouldn’t have happened.” Siva said. Shortly after the party, Nareesha found out that she was pregnant with their second child. Siva was happy but not as happy he could have been. It just not feel right to be celebrating while Nathan was out there somewhere dying.

“We can’t keep dwelling on what if’s right now, guys.” Max told them. “The important thing right now is finding Nathan.”

“Oh yeah, the cops are doing a great job on looking for him.” Tom argued.

“They’ll find him though.” Jay tried to reassure them. “They know who took him now so at least that’s something.”

“What if they don’t get to him in time, Bird?”

“They will, we just have to believe they will.”

That was probably the only time Tom, Siva, and Jay remembered Max ever making so much sense in his life.

“Say, do you guys remember the time we got stuck in the lift?” Tom couldn’t help but bring that up.

All four of them broke into a fit of laughter at the memory.

Nina, along with Kelsey and Nareesha watched from the kitchen smiling. It was the first time in so long since they had seen the four boys laughing and having a good time since Nathan disappeared. It was like they drifted apart from each other.

While the three girls tried to stay strong for the sake of their loved ones, they were falling apart too. They all thought of Nathan as if he was their younger brother too and they were devastated by the news of his disappearance.

The phone ringing caught the attention of the three girls in the kitchen. It did not seem like the four boys were aware of it though, they were too busy chatting with each other.

“Hello?” Nina picked up the phone. Kelsey and Nareesha could see her turn to a shocked expression and her mouth hung open with what the other person on the other line told her.

“Max,” they could hear Nina’s voice and all their heads snapped up to look at her when they heard the tone of her voice. She looked flabbergasted.

They all looked at her, confused.

And that was how they all knew that something was not right.

~~_**——** _ ~~

Jay found himself running through the door of the emergency room. Tom, Siva, and Max along with the girls trailing right behind him.

They had no idea why they had been called into the hospital. Nina did not know either. All she told them was Phil had called and told them to come to the hospital right away. He did not tell Nina why though.

What happened?

That’s when they found Karen, Phil and Jess sitting on a chair in the waiting room. Karen and Phil had their hands intertwined and Jess was staring out into space. “Ms. Sykes?”

The three looked up and saw the four boys. They all ran up to the family and took a turn embracing her, Phil and Jess. “What happened?”

“Sit down, boys.” When they did so, she continued. “I received a call from the police before. They told me they found him. Alive.”

She did not even need to say a name, they all knew who she was talking about. They were left astounded, their mouths moving but no words coming out.

Everyone in the emergency room started crying tears of happiness.  
He was alive.

“Can we see him?” Max begs. He stood up on wobbly legs but soon found his legs have failed him and he falls back on the chair.

Regretfully, Karen shakes her head. “Not yet. The doctors are still taking care of him.”

Tom lets out a choked sob and gives in to the tears. Max, Siva, and Jay soon found themselves embracing him shortly afterward. They just could not believe it, they had gotten their little brother back.

But there was a part of him that kept asking himself, what did this man do to Nathan while he was holding the boy captive? Did he hurt him? Did he torture him? Was Nathan in bad shape? Would he be able to recognize the boy who had become a younger brother to him? So many questions came through his mind all at once and it was giving Max a slight headache.

“How is he?” Tom found himself asking. Max turned his head towards Karen, stunned that he had not thought to ask how Nathan was doing. He was just too shocked that Nathan had been found after all this time.

“I haven’t actually seen him yet so I really have no idea. But the doctors told me its not pretty.”

Tom felt Kelsey move so she could wrap her arms around him, to hold him. He craned his neck to the side and rested his head against hers.

They waited a good hour before a doctor came out. “Family of Nathan Sykes?”

Everyone stood up to look at the doctor. “I’m Doctor Schmidt, I’m the doctor in charge of Nathan’s care-”

Max cut the doctor off before he could finish. “Is he alive?”

The doctor nodded, “yes, he’s stable right now. But we’re not quite out of the woods yet. In all my years as a medical professional, I am honestly shocked that he is still alive.” The doctor said quietly.

“He was in pretty bad shape when he was first brought in. He was severely malnourished and dehydrated over the last six months. He had nothing to eat and the only thing he was able to have was water.” The doctor took a deep breath.

“As for physically injuries, there were not that many. The only injury that he had was a broken knuckle. That man did not physically hurt him so I can only imagine the horrible things he said to him.”

Tom could feel his rage building and he could also feel Kelsey tightening her grip on him. He wanted nothing more then to kill the man who had put Nathan through this nightmare with his own bare hands.

“Can we see him now?” Max asked.

The doctor nodded again. “Yes but one at a time. He’s sleeping right now.”

It was decided that Karen would be the first one to go see Nathan. He was her son after all. The boys would have to wait until the very next day to see Nathan so they went back home.

They were anxious to see him.

But also relieved as well.

~~_**——** _ ~~

He just stared blankly at the white ceiling, not even minding everyone or anyone who walked past him, sat next to him, talk to him.

Damn, he wasn’t even thinking. He felt… empty.

It wasn’t until he heard this one voice; husky and low. What’s that accent? Bolton. Wait, the last time he heard it, it didn’t crack or even sound this husky. The voice was singing his bits in Glad You Came.

Then he felt angry. How could they?! How could they do this to him?!

"Hey Nath." It was the voice again; tentative and… broken. "How’re you, mate?"

Turning is head to the right, towards the source of the voice, his eyes met the figure of his four former band-mates. Those traitors. “What’re you lot doing here?!” he croaked. “Go back on stage and perform or something! You shouldn’t be here; it’s not a place for popular boybands, it’s a place for pathetic creatures like me!”

All four of them seemed to be taken aback by Nathan’s harsh attitude. Just what had this man told him?

“What are you talking about, mate?-“

Max did not even have the chance to finish because Nathan cut him off.

“Don’t sit here and play the innocent act, Max! You know darn well what I’m talking about!”

They all looked at each other, clearly confused but they remained silent. “The least you could do is admit what you have done! You think I wouldn’t know?! Well I do and I know everything!”

"We really have no idea what you’re talking about, Nath."

"Cut the crap, Siva!" Nathan yelled at them. "How could you guys?! How could you go on as a band without me?!"

That caught them off guard. Continue on as a band? Without him?

They  _wouldn’t_.

They  _couldn’t_.

How could Nathan believe that? He was their best friend, their little brother. They would never do something like that to him.

They would never backstab Nathan like that.

"Now you can’t even admit it to me?" Nathan spat, "you guys are pathetic! Get out!"

"Nath-"

"I SAID GET OUT!"

"Nathan, please." They begged.

But Nathan was not going to take it. “I don’t ever want to see any of you ever again! Now, leave!”

"You got it all wrong, mate. That is not true. We did not continue with the band. We couldn’t do that.” Max tried to reason with the youngest but Nathan was not having any of it.

“Now you’re going to try and deny it? It’s not going to work, boys,” Nathan argued back.

They all just stood there dumbfounded, mouth falling open as they stare into Nathan’s fuming eyes. That was real anger burning in it. Nathan was genuinely angry. Jay could feel the heat of his anger prickling across his skin, almost.

But it was Siva who whispered to them, “Let’s… Let’s just leave him alone for a little while. He’s still pretty shaken up.”

Jay felt Siva tugging his arm, pulling him out the door. From a peripheral peek he could see Seev dragging Max as well. Tom wouldn’t budge. He just stood there with a look of disbelief tainting his face.

"Why Tom?" Nathan inquired morosely, a tinge of sarcasm lining his words. "Surprised that I found out about that while being held captive? Don’t bother, just go and join those chickens that are bailing at the door."

Jay could’ve lunged forward and say something inappropriate to Nathan, if it wasn’t for the cage of Siva’s arms around his waist. But that wasn’t the act that had turned his legs to jelly.

It was when Tom turned around, wiping beads of tears from his cheeks as he trudged part the other three.

He thought Tom, the hard-headed one, would at least lash back at Nathan, shaking him awake from his deluded thoughts but no; Tom had gave up and turned around.

He didn’t even realize when Siva had dragged him out because the next thing he knew he was already at the hallway, and Max had punched the hospital wall so hard he swore he heard a muffled crack.


	3. Chapter 3

Nathan jolted awake in a cold sweat after having yet another nightmare and sat up in bed.

He really did not know how much more of these nightmares he would be able to take. It had been threw weeks since he was rescued, two since he was released from the hospital, and he really struggling.

His mom assured him that it was normal to be feeling the way he was. He went through a very traumatic experience and it would take a while for him to adjust to being back home. She also assured him that he was not alone, he had her, Jess, and Phil to help him.

“You don’t have to go through this alone, Nath,” she told him. “We’re all here for you. Just let us in and we can help you.”

Only thing is, he just can’t talk about everything he went through. How is he supposed to talk about everything John did to him? From kidnapping him and holding him captive for over a year to leaving him to die a horrible death in that room. There is no way he can talk about that.

Better yet, his mom did need to hear about all of that. She would probably have a breakdown if he told her.

Heck, if he told her, she’d probably head to the penitentiary to kill John Smith.

Maybe it would have been better off if he had just died. It would have been better if John just killed straight away instead of putting him through everything that he went through. Instead finding out the way he did about the boys continuing with the band.

That was a really low blow.

“Nath, you okay?” He heard a comforting voice from somewhere on his left and he covered his face with his hands at the same time a pair of arms wrapped themselves around and pulled him closer. He knew that embrace, it was not anything unfamiliar to him. But it still surprised him to the point where he broke out of his mother embrace. “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

He said nothing but he felt like a dick for pushing his mom away when all she was trying to help.

“Did you have another nightmare?” She asked, letting her hand rub his back in circles to comfort him.

Way to point out the obvious there, mom. He thought bitterly. He could feel his mom move her hand from his back to his hair and she started to push his hair back with her fingers.

Karen said nothing and pulled her son into her arms, hoping that this time he would not push her away. He didn’t. She knew there were no words that would bring the comfort that Nathan needed so instead she just tightened her hold on her only son and let some tears fall while pressing soft kisses into Nathan’s hair.

Nathan had changed so much after being rescued. She hardly knew him.

The innocent, sarcastic kid she loved with all her heart was gone and was replaced by a miserable and dejected child and it broke her heart. Nathan shut himself out from everyone. Most of the time, he spent his room and wouldn’t come out for any reason. He would not eat and he barely slept as it is. He did not speak at all after she brought him home from the hospital.

Nathan would not sleep in his own bedroom either. The very first night, he had a nightmare and started screaming, waking both her and Phil up. After that, she would not allow Nathan to sleep in his own room alone. Phil would sleep downstairs on the couch, which folded up into a bed, and Nathan would sleep in her room with her.

She absolutely hated seeing Nathan like this. There was no worse feeling then seeing your child in a downward spiral and when you try to help them, they just shut you out. All she wanted to do was cry until she had no more tears left. She just could not stand seeing Nathan in so much pain.

If there was one thing that she was certain of, she wanted John Smith dead for doing this to Nathan. He destroyed her baby.

If the man was literally right in front of her, she would probably end up choking him to death with her bare hands. And she would feel no remorse for it either, not after everything this animal did to her son.

After what seemed like a minute to her, Nathan pulled a way. All he did was sit on the bed and stare into space. “Nath?” She tried to get his attention but he would not look at her. “You know you can talk to me, right? I’m here for you and I always will be.”

She gently placed her hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “Don’t shut me out, please.”

But it was no use. She could not get through to him, no matter how hard she tried and she had to stop herself from crying.

Slowly, she turned her head over to the nightstand next to the bed. 7:37.

It was that time of morning where she had to get up and start getting ready for work. Phil was already gone, he left for work at six.

Part of her wants to go back. She’s taken off so many days and she really could not afford to use any more. But how could she go to work and leave Nathan home alone? It was just too soon and he needed her a lot more then the school did.

What is she supposed to do?

“Baby,” she began, looking at the side of Nathan’s head. “I need to start getting ready for work now.”

Still no answer. Nathan would not speak or pick up his head to make eye contact with her.

Karen to hold back some of her tears as she got up off the bed to head into the bathroom. When she came out, Nathan was no longer in her bedroom. He must have went downstairs.

After getting dressed, she head downstairs to see Nathan sitting on the couch in the living room and the TV was on. But he did not seem to be watching. His eyes seemed blank.

Jess sat beside him and no matter how hard she tried to get him to talk, it was no use. He ignored her.

"Guys, I’m leaving for work now. If you’re hungry, we have cereal in the pantry and eggs in the fridge. Do you need anything?"

Jess shook her head. “I’m fine, mom.”

“How about you, Nath?” She asked her son, getting no response, of course. “Nathan?”

This time, Nathan reacted. He picked his head up to make eye contact with his mother. She looked she could start crying at any second. “Do you need anything?”

Nathan said nothing but shook his head.

“Will you be okay by yourself?”

Nathan nodded.

“If you need me, don’t hesitate to call. I’ll be home before you know it.”

For the first time in two weeks, Nathan actually spoke. “I’ll be alright, mom.”

Karen breathed a sigh of relief of hearing him speak. She almost forgot what his voice sounded like, it was nice to be able to hear it again after all this time.

Not too long after, Karen left to go to work.

–

“Hey Nath, look.” Jess called out, trying to get Nathan’s attention. “There’s a rerun of Eurovision on. You didn’t see this one, watch it with me?”

If there was one thing that Jess knew, Nathan actually enjoyed watching Eurovision. Because of the fact that he was a singer himself, he always got a kick out of watching these performances and how bad some of them actually were.

But that did not even work. Nathan sat frozen on the couch.

It had been an hour since Karen left for work and Nathan would not speak to her at all. He just sat on the couch staring out into space. It broke Jess’ heart.

She unmuted the TV and started watching the singing competition. As she was watching, she could not help herself from laughing at how bad this performance she was watching was. Actually, no, it was not bad. It was horrible. The girl on the TV performing was from France. While she may have had a good voice, she was off key during the whole performance.

“Are you seeing this, Nath?” She asked, not looking at her brother. “She’s horrible. She’s making last year’s look even worse.”

That’s when Jess realized what she had said and her eyes widened. Her head snapped up to look at Nathan, who did not move at all. It seemed like he did not hear what she had said. She did not mean to say that, it just kind of came out. Nathan was not able to see the previous year’s Eurovision. It was during that awful year when he was missing and she thought the worst.

That’s right. The whole time that Nathan was missing, she thought he was dead. She felt bad for thinking that but it was true. He was kidnapped and imprisoned for over a year, she thought it was very unlikely that he would be found alive.

But if there was one thing Jess knew about Nathan, she knew that Nathan liked to defy the odds.

He’s been doing since he was younger and he’s still be doing it to this day. He did not care if the odds were against him, he liked to prove everyone wrong. He was a fighter.

And man, Nathan must have put up one hell of a fight against John to survive as long as he did in captivity.

“Why don’t we watch something, huh, Nath?” Jess asked Nathan, getting no response as she began to flip through the channels. She stopped when she got to this one TV show that Nathan really enjoyed. “Hey Nathan, look. The Walking Dead is on, I know how much you love this show. Want to watch it?”

Nothing. No reply. Nathan did not move an inch.

“You don’t want to watch it?” Jess asked her brother, looking at him.

Still no answer from Nathan.

Jess was beginning to get frustrated now. She had been trying so hard to pull Nathan out of this state and it seems like her best efforts did nothing.

“Come on, Nath.” Jess begged. “It’s me, Jess. I’m right here for you and I’m not going anywhere. Just talk to me.”

When she got no reply, her eyes welled up with tears.

Nathan still made no movements at all. Jess let some of her tears fall. “I hate seeing you like this, Nath. I hate seeing you shutting yourself from everyone who loves you and not letting us help you. I hate seeing you in so much pain. I especially hate knowing that you won’t let me in.”

But what she hated most of all was the man who did this to her brother is still alive and breathing. She just could say that to Nathan.

“Ever since we were kids, you’ve always been there for me. When I was getting picked on in school, you would stand up for me and never let them hurt me. I never did thank you for that but I am extremely grateful for everything you did when we were younger.”

Jess wiped her tears on her sleeve. “You’re the best big brother a girl could have ever asked for.”

“Now, for the first time in our lives, you need me. I’m not going anywhere either, Nath. You’re not alone, I’ll always be here for you. It’s the least I could I do after everything you have done for me.”

“I love you.”

Now if Jess was not mistaken, she could have sworn she saw a tear make its way down Nathan’s cheek. “Are you listening to me?”

But Nathan did not turn his head to look at her.

“Now you have me getting emotional.” Jess teased, wiping her tears away some more. “Lets find something to watch, what do you say?”

As usual, she still got no response from Nathan so she started flipping through the channels. She stopped when she got to one of the news channels and her eyes widened. On the TV was a picture of Nathan along with the news reporter, who was talking but Jess could not hear what she was saying because of the fact that the TV was muted.

“Nath, they’re talking about you.”

With that, Jess turned the sound to the TV back on to watch what they were saying about Nathan on the TV. “Lets send this over to Fredricka Poulsen, who has this miraculous story. Fredricka.”

The scene on the TV changed to a woman, who was standing in a suburb in London. “Thank you, Cindy.” She said, turning to look at her surroundings. “Well, we are right outside the house where member of the popular boyband The Wanted, Nathan Sykes, was found alive after being held captive for fifteen months.”

A picture of the house was on the TV as the reported voice was on the TV. “It’s a quite small, house. Nothing out of the ordinary on the outside, right? Well, you would think wrong.” The room that Nathan was held captive in came on the TV and Jess’s jaw dropped. “This small room here is the room that Nathan Sykes from The Wanted was forced to call home after being held captive for the past year and three months.”

Nathan picked his head up to look at the TV to see a picture of John himself on the TV. “Sykes, twenty two, was abducted by this man, David Bradley, at a party for his other bandmate and friend, Thomas Parker and his fiancee, Kelsey Hardwick.”

“Davis Bradley was arrested six months ago following a bar fight. It was then revealed that his blood matched blood found in the parking lot of Alexandro’s Restaurant, where Parker and Hardwick held their engagement party the night of Sykes’ disappearance.”

“About two weeks ago, Sykes was found alive, where he was immediately rushed to St. George’s hospital, where he pulled through. He is now at home in house in Gloucester.”

The changed back to the news reporter. “David Bradley is being held at Holloway prison without bail and if convicted, he could spend up to twenty five to life in prison. I’m Fredricka Poulsen. Cindy.”

That’s when Jess seethed with rage. After everything that man did to Nathan, he should get the death penalty.

The original news reported appeared back on the TV. “Such an amazing story.” She said. “The Wanted were on a five-year hiatus prior to Sykes’ abduction. It is currently unknown where or not they will reunite now that Sykes has been rescued.”

That caught Nathan’s attention and his head shot up, his eyes open so wide. “What?!” Nathan asked.

Jess looked at Nathan’s outburst. “What’s wrong, Nath?”

“No, that can’t be.” Nathan argued and started wheezing.

Jess leaned over to get his inhaler, which was on the coffee table in font of him, before handing it to him. “Take it easy or you’ll have an even worse asthma attack.”

“The reporter.”

“What about her?”

“The boys.”

“What are you getting at, Nath?” Jess asked, completely confused. “Use your words.”

“Did the boys continue on with the band without me?”

Jess looked at Nathan completely flabbergasted. “No, of course they didn’t.” She answered, “how could you think they would do that to you?”

Nathan shook his head. “No, that can’t be. I saw videos of them performing without me. I saw tweets. And that article.”

“Slow down, Nath,” Jess struggled to keep up with Nathan. “What tweets and what article?”

“He showed them to me.”

It seemed like Nathan was not even listening to a word Jess said so she leaned over and forced him to look at her. “Will you tell me what you’re talking about?”

“ _He_  told me they went ahead and continued as a band without me.” The way that Nathan put emphasis on the word ‘he’ made Jess realize who Nathan was talking about and she could feel her blood beginning to boil. “He showed me tweets from the fans, an article, and a video of them performing without me.”

“What he told you,” Jess said, “it’s not true. They did not get back together without you. They would never do that to you.”

“B-but…” Nathan said, guilt for all the awful things he said to the boys previously hitting him in the face and his eyes welled up with tears. He looked at Jess, who gave him a sad nod. “No..”

How could he? He could he have believed John over them? They’re his best friends, no, his older brothers.

More importantly, will they ever forgive for everything he said to them.

Before Jess knew what was happening, Nathan was sprinting up to his room, where he laid on his bed and proceed to cry his eyes out until he fell asleep.

That’s how Karen found him when she came home from work a few hours later

Curled up into a ball on his bed with his cheeks stained from his tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to post this. I've actually had this done for a while and it's been posted for a while on Tumblr. I completely forgot to post this here. I apologize, everyone. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you guys like this part.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: John makes another appearance this chapter, basically being his evil self. You'll see what I mean as you read this.

_Max was definitely not freaking out._

_He was about to come face to face with the man who kidnapped one of his best friends and he was most certainly not freaking out._

_Well, maybe he was a little bit but he had a good reason to._

_So many thoughts had crossed his head as he sat in the visitation room in the prison. What had this man done to Nathan after he abducted the boy? Was he hurt? Was he already dead? What exactly did this man tell him?_

_He tried to push all his useless thoughts out of his mind and concentrate on the main reason why he even came to visit the man._

_Getting Nathan’s location so he could find the boy._

_Nathan needed him and he wasn’t about to let the boy down. He would do whatever he could to find Nathan and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer._

_The sound of a door opening could be heard and Max saw the man he hated more then anything being dragged into the room. He couldn’t stop himself from glaring at the man._

_He couldn’t believe he was face to face with the man who abducted Nathan._

_John looked surprised and slightly amused to see him sitting there. “Well, if it isn’t Max.” He chuckled, which made Max’s anger skyrocket. “What did I do to deserve being graced by your presence?”_

_”You know why I’m here.” The glare never left Max’s face._

_"I’m afraid I don-"_

_"Cut the crap, you sick freak!" Max yelled before bringing himself closer to the glass separating him and John. "Tell me where Nathan is."_

_John smirked, “now why would I do that?”_

_"Because if you don’t, I will rip you apart, limb by limb."_

_"So you think threatening me will get me to give up Lil Nath’s location?"_

_"Do not call him that! You have no right to whatsoever!" Max shouted. “Now, tell me where Nathan is or I will make your life miserable! You already are going to spend the rest of your life in a cage, you have nothing else to lose!”_

_Max was caught off guard when John started laughing and he couldn’t keep the glare off his face. He swore if it was not for the glass separating him from John, he would have killed the man with his bare hands. “You’re just like them, Max!”_

“ _What do you mean?!”_

“ _You’re holding on to something stupid, something to give your life meaning. It’s all a delusion though and Nathan found that out the hard way.”_

“ _Where is he?!”_

“ _He’s dead, Max!”_

“ _No he isn’t! I know he’s still alive! I can feel it and I would know if he is dead or not! Tell me where he is!”_

_John chuckled again,smirking. He got some sick satisfaction out of Max’s suffering. “Yes, he is. He broke in that lonely and dark room.”_

“ _You’re lying!”_

“ _I saw the look on his face when he realized there was no hope. When he realized you were not coming. Neither you or your bandmates were going to find him. And you know what? He accepted it. He accepted that he was going to die, although he wondered why you guys just let him stay in that room instead of looking for him.”_

_Max could see the sick grin on John’s face with every word that came out his mouth and he gave the man the most disgusted face he could manage. “You are a sick freak.”_

_John chuckled but remained quiet so Max continued, “how can you live with yourself?”_

“ _It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” John had the look of sick satisfaction all over face. “Watching him give up after he realized that you four would much rather perform as a band then search for him.”_

_Max’s eyes widened. There is no way Nathan would ever believe the garbage coming from this man’s mouth. “You really don’t know him at all, do you? He would never believe that garbage.”_

“ _Oh he did, Max.”_

“ _You’re lying! I know Nathan and he would never believe you or your bullshit!”_

“ _Well, you clearly don’t know him well enough.” John smirked. “And who are you kidding, Max. We both know you wanted him out of the way. He kept stealing all your fans and he kept getting all the attention. You were sick of it, weren’t you? You wanted him gone so you could have it all of it yourself. I did you a favor, didn’t I?”_

_That was when Max reached his breaking point. He had been keeping in all his feelings of anger and rage and hearing what the man was telling caused him to snap. He jumped to his feet and kicked the chair he was sititng, knocking it over. “You son of a bitch!” He screamed at the top of his lungs, banging on the glass with his hands. “I’ll kill you. I’ll fucking kill you with my bare hands!”_

_Luckily, there was no one else in the room but seeing Max so angry, it was actually quite terrifying to John and he was sure the latter would have killed him if there was not a slab of glass separating the two of them._

_But that was acutally what John wanted. He wanted to die, he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life in a prison, like his victims did. He wanted someone to kill him._

_The guards immediately rushed in to grab John. “You’re dead! You’re fucking dead! I hope you burn in hell, you fucking prick!” Max shouted at John as the guards pulled the man out of the visitation room and back to his cell._

_Max was seeting with rage as he walked out of the room. He had failed to get Nathan’s location and he even let the man who abducted the boy, get underneath his skin._

_Never has he felt so helpless and inadequate in his life._

* * *

Max could not forget that day, even if he wanted to. He didn’t plan things though and ended up leaving the prison seething with rage.

Never had Max ever wanted to kill another person so badly as he wanted to kill John that day. He knew what the man was trying to do. He was trying to get to him by using Nathan against him. What’s even worse is that he let that happen.

He let John taunt him and he hated himself for that.

He should have that John wasn’t going to give up Nathan’s location so easily the moment he went in there to confront the man.

And to be honest, he did know that.

He figured that with a little.. persuision and threats, maybe John would give in and tell him where Nathan was.

But he didn’t know just how insane that man was and if he said such awful things to him, he could only imagine the stuff he said to Nathan while he was holding him captive.

It had been a couple of months since Nathan was rescued and Max still had no heard from him.

_Of course you’re not going to hear from him, you idiot._  He thought to himself.  _He made it clear that he_ _does not want anything to do with you or the other boys ever again._

And that made Max hate John ever more then he already does.

How could Nathan believe that they would continue go on as The Wanted without him? He played such a big role in the band, espeically performing. He was just avery important part to the band, they all were. Max thought he knew Nathan better then that.

“Are you okay, Max?” He heard his brother, Jack’s, voice and he looked up to meet Jack’s concerned gaze. He could see his mother staring at him worriedly. “You have not touched your food at all.”

Max shook his head. “I just can’t stop thinking about Nathan.”

Both Jack and his mother knew about everything that happened to Nathan and their hearts broke just from thinking about everything he went through in captivity. It just baffled them about there were such cruel people in the world, who could acutally do that to another human being.

“How could he believe him?” Max’s questioned. “How could Nathan believe all those lies that man put in his head? I though he knew us better then that.”

“You don’t know what else that man could have told him, Max.” Barbara told her youngest son.

Jack nodded in agreement. “Besides, the truth will come out one day. Nathan will come around, Max, and when he does, he’s going to need you and the other guys.”

Max understood and he knew they were right. When that does happen, Max is going to be there for Nathan. “I’m just not hungry. Is it alright if I bring my food home with me?”

Barbara nodded her head. “Of course.”

After about twenty minutes, they were finally getting ready to go. Max got his food wrapped and they were heading up to the front of the restaurant to pay the bill. Max stood next to Jack, both of them behind their mother while she paid the bill.

“Max?” He could hear a very familiar voice call out his name. His eyes flew wide open. It can’t be him, can it?

He looked over at the voice and it was exactly who he thought it was. Nathan. He stood by the bar with his good friend, Cel. Max couldn’t even form the right words to say, he just stared at Nathan in shock and pure confusion.

He never thought, in a million years, he would run into Nathan in a restaurant, of all places.

The last words Nathan said to him and the other boys started echoing in his head and he froze. Before he knew what was happening, his mouth snapped shut and he turned away, practically sprinting out of the restaurant, breathing hard and he nearly knocked over the people coming in.

He could hear his mother and his brother calling his name but not once did he bother to turn back.

He just ran as fast as his legs would carry him.

* * *

To say that Nathan was nervous was understatement.

He could feel his heart hammering inside his chest as he stood on the doorstep on Max’s house, just staring at the piece of wood that was separating him from the other boys. He knew he should just knock on the door and get it over with but something kept stopping him.

What if they didn’t want to talk to him? What if they told him to leave and slammed the door shut in his face?

After everything he said to them, he really would not blame them at all.

Slowly, he took a deep breath before knocking on the door. It took a couple of minutes before someone answered the door. Nathan found himself looking at Nina. He managed to give her a small smile. “Hey Nina.”

Nina looked really happy to see him before embracing him. “Oh Nathan, I’m so glad to see you.”

“Same here,” Nathan pulled away from the hug rather quickly. “They’re all here, aren’t they?”

Nina nodded. “Yep, they’re all out back.” She stepped to the side, allowing Nathan to enter. “Follow me.”

Nathan smiled in return and followed her outside where the rest of the boys were sitting with Kelsey and Nareesha. “Hey guys, we have a visitor.” Nina said and everyone looked to see Nathan standing there, which shocked Max, Jay, Siva, and Tom. “Can I get you anything, Nathan?”

The boy shook his head. “No thank you, I’m not staying too much longer.”

Kelsey and Nareesha both stood up but not before embracing Nathan. “We’ll be inside if you’re looking for us.” Nareesha said before all three girls went back inside, leaving the five boys alone.

At first nothing was said, Nathan couldn’t even seem to find the words to get out. He just stared at the boys, who all looked back at him shocked and confused.

“Guys,” Nathan breathed.

“What do you want, Nathan?” Tom snapped.

“I just came to say that I’m sorry.” That caught the boys off guard. Nathan lookmed down at the ground. “I know that what I said to you guys was awful and words cannot express just how horrible I feel about it.”

The boys said nothing so Nathan continued. “I know the truth now and I should have believed you guys when you tried to tell me that.”

“It’s okay, Nath.” Jay told him.

“No, it’s not.” Nathan let a few tears slide down his cheeks. “What I said to you, it wasn’t right. I understand if you guys never want to see me again. I just figured that you deserve an apology and it’s best if I came here and did it personally.”

The boys said nothing, they all just stared at Nathan. Nathan wanted them to start screamning at him, it surely would be better then the awkward silence between them.

Tom stood up and approached Nathan, standing a few feet away from him. Nathan said nothing, just stared at his oldest former band mate.

What Tom did next shocked Nathan. He wrapped his arms around the younger boy and pulled him into his chest, hugging him tightly. Nathan was caught off guard but hugged Tom back. “We’re not mad at you, Nath.” Tom spoke into Nathan’s ear.

Max, Jay, and Siva all stood up and smbraced their friends as well.

“We could never be mad at you, ever.” Max said.

“You’re like a little brother to all of us and you always will be.” Jay spoke up next.

Siva was the last to say something. “We love you, Nathan.”

That’s when Nathan lost it. He had tried to be strong and keep himself together in front of the boys but after hearing everything they just told him, he just couldn’t keep himself from breaking down. He buried his face in Tom’s shoulder and let all of his tears out as his best friends held him and comforted him.

It felt good to be back into the arms of his former band mates, no, his older brother’s, espeically after everything. While he was trapped in that room, he thought he would never see them again. He thought they didn’t care about him and were not looking for him.

But now, he realized how wrong he was. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there is only one more chapter left and then this story is finished. I've had a blast writing it and I thank you all for taking the time out to read this. It really means a lot to me. 
> 
> I'm thinking I may end up writing a sequel to this story. I don't know for sure yet but I might. If you want me to write a sequel, please do let me know. I have some ideas brewing in my head for the sequel. If you want a sequel, please do let me know. Tell me in a comment or head on over to my tumblr (InvincibleMaslow) and send me a message there. Either way works. 
> 
> That's it for now and hopefully, I'll get the fifth and final part done quickly. I hope you all enjoyed this part and look out for the last chapter. 
> 
> Until next time <3 ~


	5. Chapter 5

To say that Tom was concerned would be an understatement. No, he was worried out of his mind. Nathan was acting strange. He was always so jumpy and it looked like he would crawl out of his skin at any second.

It had been nearly a year since Nathan was rescued. Almost a year since he was found by the police and he survived the whole ordeal that he was put through. Truth be told, he was doing alright. It seemed like he had come to terms with what happened and he was moving on with his life. It looked like he put it all behind him.

That is up until two weeks ago when he received a text message. After that, it seemed like Nathan was constantly spacing out and he wouldn't pay attention to anything going around him. Jay questioned him about it and Nathan literally jumped down his throat.

Tom had no idea who it was that had texted Nathan. The boy would not tell him, he wouldn't tell anyone what it said. He kept saying it was no one, which Tom did not believe in the slightest. He knows Nathan, probably better than Nathan knows himself. He can tell when there's something bothering him. That's how he knew something was bothering Nathan.

He wanted to know what it was and what happened to cause Nathan to act like this. And he was going to find out.

Tom decided to call up all of the boys and invite them all over. Jay and Max both couldn't make it, Siva was on vacation in New York, but luckily, Nathan was able to come. Kelsey was away doing some stuff for K2K Stars so it would just be him and Nathan, which would give him the perfect opportunity to talk to Nathan and find out what is going on.

The two didn't really do much. They talked and watched TV. Tom even cooked lunch for the two of them, that was about it. Nathan had not mentioned anything about what was bothering him, not like it came as a surprise to Tom. But the elder was determined to get to the bottom of this.

"Hey, Nath." Tom called, catching the younger boy's attention. How do I bring it up? Tom literally had no idea how to even mention the issue. He didn't want to say anything to anger Nathan. "What's up with you?" Nathan pulled his eyes away from the TV to look at his friend, confused but didn't say anything. "Is there something bothering you?"

The younger boy shook his head. "No, why do you ask Tom?"

"Well, uh.." Tom paused and took a deep breath. "You've kind of been acting strange lately, even for you."

"Nothing's wrong, Tom. I'm fine."

"Sorry, but I don't believe you." Tom put his hand on Nathan's shoulder. "You know you can talk to me, right Nath?"

It was not that hard to see that Nathan was getting annoyed. He swatted Tom's hand away, rather harshly, and stood up. "What makes you think something is wrong with me?! There is nothing bothering me, Tom!"

"This is exactly why I don't believe you, Nath. You're shouting now, people don't usually shout when there isn't anything bothering them."

"Just stop, Tom! I don't need this right now! Why are you pestering me?!"

"Because I can see that my younger brother is upset and I want to help. Please, just tell me what's wrong, Nath. Please." Tom begged.

Nathan sighed and took a seat in the couch, slouching over and he covered his face with his hands. There was no sense on trying to act like there was nothing wrong because Tom saw right through his tough act. His eldest band mate could always tell when there was something wrong. "Do you remember two weeks ago when I received a text message while I was at your house?"

Tom nodded his head. "Yeah, you told me it was no one."

"I was lying, Tom. It wasn't from no one, it was from my mom. And.." Nathan slowly slid his hand into his pocket and took his phone out, unlocking it and going into his messages before passing it over to Tom. “This is what it said.”

Tom looked at Nathan before looking down at the message on Nathan's phone. He could not believe what he saw on the screen.

_Hi sweetheart. The cops called before. John Smith is dead._

That's what the message said and suddenly, it all made sense to him; the lies, why Nathan was acting different, everything.

“I called her after I left and that's when she told me everything she found out.” Nathan's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked at the younger boy. “He took his own life a couple of weeks ago while awaiting trial. Apparently he could not stand the thought of spending the rest of his life in prison. Quite ironic, isn't it?”

All Tom could do was stare at the message and not that he wasn't overjoyed over this - after everything that man did to Nathan, Tom wanted him dead – but he really should have seen this coming. There was always something not right in that man's head.

That was probably really stupid. Of course there is something not right in that man's head. Any person who keeps another person prisoner for a year is messed up.

“You must think I'm crazy, huh?” Tom's head immediately snapped up to look at Nathan. That was definitely the last thing he would ever have expected to hear from Nathan. “To be acting like this, right Tom?”

“What?”

“After everything he did to me, I should be happy he's dead, right?” Nathan immediately jolted up. “Go on, Tom. Say it.”

“Nath-”

“I'm a failure and a disappointment!” Nathan cried.

Tom stood up. “I never said that.”

“But you're thinking it, aren't you?”

“Nathan, listen to me!” Tom yelled and grabbed Nathan by the arms to hopefully calm him down. It seemed to work because Nathan stopped rambling on and looked up at him. “I understand why you're feeling the way you are, believe me.”

“How can you, Tom? You don't know the whole story. About everything he did to me there. You can't possibly understand how I feel.”

“I would if you would just open up and tell me everything.”

“Are you sure you really want to know, Tom? Do you really want to know how he got into my head every night? Do you really want to know about he constantly told me that no one was looking for me and that I was going to die in that room? Do you really want to know about how he convinced me that you guys didn't care more about the band then you did about me and that you weren't coming for me? Do you really want to know, Tom?"

At that point, Nathan had finally reached his breaking point and he let it all out. Tom was quick to pull his friend into a hug, not bothering to say anything. He knew that there was nothing he could say to Nathan that would actually help comfort him so he just held Nathan tightly as he let the younger boy sob into him.

After a few seconds, Nathan pulled away from him and wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize to me, Nath," Tom shook his head. "Just remember that you're not alone. I'm not going anywhere so if you ever need to talk to me, just know that I'm here for you and I'll listen to anything you have to say."

Nathan could not stop himself from smiling. This was something he needed. He needed someone to talk to, someone who would listen to what he had to say and would not interrupt him while he opened up about everything he went through at the hands of the man they all hated more than anything.  
He needed his older brothers and he was beyond lucky to have them in his life.

–

“I’m home!” Nathan called out after he closed the front door to his house before hanging his coat on the coat rack behind the door and placing his car keys on the shelf closest to the front door. When no one responded, he looked around the house. “Mom?”

The living room was empty. No one was home, except him. No one was home. He walked into the kitchen and that’s when he noticed the note his mother left him on the kitchen table.

“Jess and I are out shopping. There’s some food for you in the microwave. Be back soon.”

While he was heating up his dinner, he went out into the living room to watch some TV. That was when he noticed something on the coffee table that caught his interest. It was a newspaper article and there was a picture of none other then John Smith on it. Nathan slowly picked it up to read what it was saying.

_David Bradley, 54, was found dead in his prison cell while awaiting trial in the abduction and attempted murder case of Nathan Sykes, a member of the popular boyband, The Wanted._

_Bradley abducted Sykes and kept him prisoner for eleven months, police say._

The whole he read the article, he heard John’s voice in his head. Reading it to him. Probably to torment him more than he already had. The boy looked next to him and sitting in the chair was none other than John Smith. “I always knew you’d be the most beautiful one to break.”

Nathan tried to keep his tears back but failed. He took a deep breath. “Well, congratulations, you broke me. Is that what you wanted?”

“I didn’t break you. Oh no, I bent you instead. I wanted to do so much worse to you the whole time I had you.” John reached out and placed a hand on Nathan’s hand, running his hand up and down Nathan’s arm to torment the boy, knowing Nathan would not resist. “I always knew you were different from the rest.”

“Why me?” Nathan could not stop himself from asking. “Why did you pick me?”

John smirked, placing his hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “I think the more appropriate question is why didn’t I pick you? I knew straight from the very first moment I laid eyes on you that you were special and you would be the most rewarding one of them all to break. I wasn’t wrong.”

“You tricked me! You led me to believe the boys went on with the band without me.”

“Yes, I did. And you know what? It was so satisfying. Watching you lose all hope was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life.

Nathan shook his head and frowned, still fighting to keep his tears back. “What else do you want from me? I have nothing left, you’ve taken everything.”

“Oh, Nathan. Sweet, innocent little Nath. I’m going to take so much more from you. You’ll never be rid of me.” John reached up to run his fingers through Nathan’s hair. “No matter how hard you try, you won’t ever get rid of me. I will continue to haunt you for the rest of your life. I will make sure that you feel safe nowhere, not even in your own home.”

The young boy looked up at him, confused. “You’re mine! I own you and now the whole world will know it too.”

Nathan shook his head. “No.”

John nodded his head while looking at Nathan with a sick smirk on his face. “Oh yes.”

That’s when Nathan lost it. He pushed John’s hand off his shoulder and stood up, turning around to face the older man. “I’m not yours! I don’t belong to you!”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” John just stayed in his spot on the chair while continuing to taunt Nathan. “You do belong to me and there is nothing that pleases me more. Either way, I win.”

“No.” Nathan glared at John, who just sat in his spot on the couch, smirking at the boy before him.

“Yes.”

“No!” He finally reached his breaking point and shouted at the man sitting on his couch. “You may think you’ve won but you haven’t, I have. And you want to know? You’re dead, I’m not. I’m still here and I’m not going anywhere. You must hate that, right? Because I beat you. I win, John.”

The two just stared at each other for a few seconds before Nathan could hear someone opening the door to his house. “You lose.”

“Nathan?” He heard his mother call his name and he turned around to see both his mother and Jess standing in the doorway. He turned his attention back to the couch but found that John was gone. He disappeared.

He turned back around to look at his mother, who was looking at him, concerned. “Are you okay?”

And for the first time in a while, Nathan felt like he could answer that question truthfully. Had it been a couple of months ago, he was sure he would have answered with a simple, “yes.” even though he clearly was not okay.

But now, Nathan knew one thing. He may not be all right now but soon, he would be.

It just takes some time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is it guys. This is the fifth and final part of Out of Time. I want to say thank you to everyone who has read this chapter and left me feedback on it. None of this would have been possible without you guys so thank you all so, so much. 
> 
> I unfortunately have some bad news for you guys.
> 
> After thinking about this for quite some time, I have decided that Out of Time will be the final story I will write from now. I apologize to everyone but I really just don't have the time to write anymore and because of that, I don't see what the point of continuing is when I know for a fact I won't be able to give the readers what they want anymore. I hope all of you understand where I'm going with this.
> 
> I've honestly had a blast writing Out of Time and it is the first multi-chaptered story I have finished. Thank you all for taking the time out to read Out of Time, it really means the world to me. I don't think I can stress just how much it truly does mean to me and I can't thank you guys enough.
> 
> If you haven't already, follow my Tumblr. It's untouchablesykes.tumblr.com


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